<\/p>\n
Daulton Varsho put the Astros in front of the Mets for good with a two-run single in the sixth inning Friday.<\/p>\n
Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
NEW YORK\u00a0\u2014 Length came from the likeliest source.\u00a0Houston Astros<\/a>\u00a0starters have struggled to provide it in August,\u00a0burdening a taxed bullpen<\/a>. Hunter Brown did so Friday and lifted his club with a commanding performance.<\/p>\n Brown worked into the seventh inning and turned a lead over to two relievers who closed out a 3-1 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field. The Astros mustered just four hits, but that proved enough behind their ace.<\/p>\n Daulton Varsho delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning, after Mets starter Christian Scott had walked the bases loaded. Yainer Diaz added an RBI single in the inning that served as insurance on a night Astros pitchers combined to allow five hits and strike out 14.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Astros inched back above .500, at 68-67, and grew their American League West lead to two games after the Rangers\u2019 loss. They are 3-1 on a week-load road trip to New York after taking two of three games against the Yankees<\/a>.<\/p>\n Houston Totals Pe\u00f1a ss Y.Alvarez dh Paredes 3b Altuve 2b Allen 2b Varsho cf Walker 1b Diaz c Trammell rf a-Smith ph-rf Vel\u00e1zquez lf New York Totals Ewing cf Lindor ss Bichette 3b Benge rf Robert lf Young 1b Semien 2b Baty dh Torrens c Houston New York a-grounded out for Trammell in the 6th.<\/p>\n LOB_Houston 6, New York 4. 2B_Benge (18). RBIs_Varsho 2 (35), Diaz (33), Benge (54). SB_Pe\u00f1a (9).<\/p>\n Runners left in scoring position_Houston 3 (Varsho, Smith, Paredes); New York 2 (Baty, Young). RISP_Houston 2 for 7; New York 0 for 4.<\/p>\n Runners moved up_Robert. GIDP_Paredes, Ewing.<\/p>\n DP_Houston 1 (Pe\u00f1a, Walker); New York 1 (Bichette, Semien, Young).<\/p>\n IP<\/p>\n H 6<\/p>\n 5 1<\/p>\n 0 1<\/p>\n 0 IP<\/p>\n H 5<\/p>\n 1 2 1<\/p>\n 1 1<\/p>\n 0 1<\/p>\n 0 Inherited runners-scored_Abreu 1-0, Lavender 3-3. WP_Abreu.<\/p>\n ABS Challenge_Semien (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Diaz (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Scott (Ball-Confirmed); Varsho (Strike-Confirmed); Bichette (Strike-Confirmed).<\/p>\n Umpires_Home, Jacob Metz; First, Carlos Torres; Second, Nate Tomlinson; Third, Mark Wegner.<\/p>\n T_2:43. A_28,848 (42,136).<\/p>\n How did Hunter Brown pitch?<\/p>\n Not since Aug. 10, when\u00a0Hayden Wesneski threw seven innings against the Giants<\/a>, had a starter finished six innings for Houston. That drought stretched to 14 games before Friday. Brown had nearly ended it in his last outing, but\u00a0an inadvertent point to the bullpen<\/a>\u00a0by manager Joe Espada prevented it.<\/p>\n This time, Brown left no chances. In one of his strongest outings of the season, Brown set a season high with 10 strikeouts and held the Mets to five hits. He notched double-digit strikeouts for the third time in his career. Walks have been a problem for him. He issued just one.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I had both fastballs going, I thought actually both my breaking balls were pretty good, and I was able to mix in some good changeups,\u201d Brown said. \u201cDiaz called a heck of a game tonight; he was really good back there.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown finished four of his strikeouts with curveballs and two more on sliders. He recorded six of his first nine outs by strikeout, not allowing a hit until the fourth. Francisco Lindor pulled a leadoff single. Carson Benge laced a changeup for a double to right-center that drove in Lindor.<\/p>\n Brown stranded Benge. Two singles put runners on first and third with one out in the fifth. Brown spun a curveball to A.J. Ewing that induced an inning-ending double play. Brown pumped a fist. He notched two more strikeouts in the sixth after his lineup had staked him to a lead.<\/p>\n At 91 pitches, he returned to start the seventh. Bryan Abreu warmed behind him. Brown induced a pop-out by Luis Robert Jr. and froze Jared Young with a front-door sinker for his last strikeout. Marcus Semien pulled a 2-0 pitch for a single. Espada emerged to remove Brown after 102 pitches.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the Hunter that we\u2019re used to seeing and the last two outings he continues to get better,\u201d Espada said. \u201cThat\u2019s huge, just to get him out there in the seventh and us being able to save some bullets for the next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Houston Astros’ Hunter Brown delivers a pitch against the New York Mets during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)<\/p>\n Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve smiles after hitting a single against the New York Mets during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)<\/p>\n Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press Houston Astros’ Daulton Varsho, right, follows through on an RBI single against the New York Mets during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)<\/p>\n Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press Houston Astros’ Yainer Diaz tosses his bat after hitting an RBI single against the New York Mets during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)<\/p>\n Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press New York Mets’ Carson Benge tosses his bat after hitting a RBI double against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)<\/p>\n Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pe\u00f1a (3) steals second base against New York Mets’ Marcus Semien, left, during the second inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)<\/p>\n Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press New York Mets’ Christian Scott delivers a pitch against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)<\/p>\n Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 28: Hunter Brown #58 of the Houston Astros throws against the New York Mets during the first inning at Citi Field on August 28, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Caean Couto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Caean Couto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Astros’ patience pays vs. Christian Scott<\/p>\n The Astros mustered one hit against Scott in his 5 \u2153 innings, a two-out single by Jose Altuve in the first inning. Scott faced 18 batters after that without allowing another. He retired 14 of 15 after Altuve\u2019s hit, a run that carried into the sixth inning, when discipline derailed his night.<\/p>\n Scott entered with the fifth-highest rate of strikeouts-per-nine-innings among pitchers with at least 80 innings in the majors this year. He did not record one Friday until his 18th batter. A second strikeout, of leadoff man Jeremy Pe\u00f1a, started the sixth. Scott\u2019s command faltered after it.<\/p>\n Yordan Alvarez watched four pitches for a walk. Isaac Paredes drew another on five pitches. Altuve saw nine pitches in a battle that ended on a high fastball. A third straight walk loaded the bases and chased Scott from the game at 96 pitches.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough to figure him out,\u201d Espada said. \u201cThe cutter, the four-seam, he pitched really well. That\u2019s good stuff. Grinded some at-bats, another big hit by Varsho. We\u2019re scrapping around right now trying to find ways to win some games offensively. Passing the baton right there, that was a good inning.\u201d<\/p>\n Lavender built a 1-2 count against Varsho, who lined a sweeper inches above the dirt into right field for a two-run single. Two batters later, Diaz poked a changeup to right for a single that scored Altuve and gave the Astros a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n \u201cJust try to put the ball in play, try obviously to stay out of the double play but try to do enough for us to score that run and try to tie the game,\u201d Varsho said. \u201cLucky enough it blooped over the infield.\u201d<\/p>\n No bridge needed to back end of bullpen<\/p>\n Brown\u2019s outing allowed Espada to bypass his bridge relievers and go directly to his highest-leverage arms with a lead. Abreu had not pitched since Tuesday. He replaced Brown and uncorked a wild pitch that sent Semien to second base but struck out Brett Baty to end the inning.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Abreu returned for the eighth. He induced fly outs by Luis Torrens and A.J. Ewing, then struck out Lindor, who swung through three cutters. Abreu induced five whiffs on nine swings in his outing.<\/p>\n Closer Josh Hader had pitched Thursday but thrown just eight pitches to work a scoreless inning against the Yankees. Hader required 18 to navigate three hitters Friday, striking out two. He is 20-for-20 in save chances this season and owns a 0.76 ERA.<\/p>\n Notes on Nelson Vel\u00e1zquez, Cam Smith<\/p>\n Re-signed to the major-league roster Monday, outfielder Nelson\u00a0Vel\u00e1zquez drew just his second start with the Astros and his first against a right-handed pitcher. Vel\u00e1zquez primarily offers a right-handed bat to deploy against lefties, but Espada said pregame he liked the matchup with the right-hander Scott.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there are some opportunities for him to catch up to maybe a fastball up out over the plate,\u201d Espada said pregame. \u201cI think Nelson handles those pitches. Scott is pretty neutral, righties and lefties handle him OK, so hopefully Nelson gets some quality at-bats.\u201d<\/p>\n Vel\u00e1zquez flied out and struck out in his two at-bats against Scott. He also struck out in his final two at-bats against right-handed relievers Jonathan Pintaro and Kodai Senga.<\/p>\n With Vel\u00e1zquez in left field and left-handed hitting Taylor Trammell in right field, Cam Smith was out of the lineup Friday. Smith entered the day in a 3-for-37 skid after a promising start to August. Espada said he is not seeing fatigue from Smith but \u201cjust (that) he\u2019s got to continue to make adjustments.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a long season,\u201d Espada said. \u201cHe\u2019s a young hitter and I\u2019m going to continue to pick my spots, trying to put him in the best positions for him to have some success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daulton Varsho put the Astros in front of the Mets for good with a two-run single in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-419829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nAvg.<\/p>\n
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\n.246<\/p>\n
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\n.264<\/p>\n
\n4
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\n.234<\/p>\n
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\n.261<\/p>\n
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\n.213<\/p>\n
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\n.188<\/p>\n
\nAB
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\nAvg.<\/p>\n
\n31
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\n.241<\/p>\n
\n000
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